“We share the frustration people feel when they hear of pools being closed. But when it comes to community health we can’t afford compromises,” Mrs Shea said.

After a month out of action, the aquatic centre reopened the toddlers’ pool this week following closure for re-painting, which Mrs Shea said improved visibility for lifeguards and should see them through the next 10 years.

Other repairs, including a leak from a chlorine tank in the plant room, repairs to a filter, as well as vomit and faeces in the water, have seen unexpected closures for hours and sometimes days at a time.

Mrs Shea said regulations are set by NSW Health and they are there for good reason.

“There’s a perception that the Orange pool is closed more often than other centres,” she said.

“We can’t speak for other centres, but we can assure pool users the decontamination process we complete is in accordance with the NSW Health guidelines.”

While Orange City Council has offered to compensate season pass holders with an extra two weeks on their passes and will open the doors to the public for free pool access this Saturday and Sunday, Mrs Shea said the centre relies on customers to respect the rules.

“Staff do their best to ensure all small children are wearing a swimming nappy when using the pool and we try our best to educate people about coming to the pool if they’ve been sick,” she said.

“The rule is, if you’ve been sick do not come to the pool for two weeks.”

To prevent the problems from recurring and staff and patrons to continue to have to deal with the consequences from ‘accidents’ in the pool, Mrs Shea asked parents to take their toddlers to the toilet before they went swimming and remind the young swimmers to get out and go to the toilet shortly after hopping in.

“It’s very common for a fully toilet-trained toddler to have an accident in the pool,” she said.

Mrs Shea thanked lap swimmers, walkers and learn to swim classes for how they’d shared the space.

“Our regular swimming community has been patient and supportive," she said.